President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act turned one year old on Saturday, and Republicans are heavily promoting the tax benefits it delivered to voters in this tough midterm election year.
Mr. Trump points to “no tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime” as a major boon for his working-class base, while Senate Republicans held more than 100 events from Alaska to Florida since the start of the year to celebrate the legislation.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise recently called the OBBB “one of the most historic bills we’ve seen in our lifetime.”
In a statement marking the legislation’s first birthday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said:
“American paychecks are bigger, their taxes are permanently lower and the border is secure. If congressional Democrats – who unanimously voted against this historic legislation and fought to obstruct its implementation – had their way, American citizens would have faced a $5 trillion tax increase, the largest in American history.”
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said the bill demonstrates the GOP is “the only one that fights for hardworking families, and we plan to remind voters of that simple fact every day until the midterms in November.”
Democrats, meanwhile, denounce the landmark legislation for robbing from the poor to help the rich.
“With their signature achievement, Republicans have made life harder for the working class, while the rich get even richer. And they’re even proud of this,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California.
“Now, for America 250, Republicans are celebrating the anniversary by attempting to rebrand this toxic law as the ‘Working Families Tax Cut.’ Republicans are insulting the intelligence of the American people with this blatant lie. Americans are smart, and they know that their lives have gotten harder and more expensive under Republican leadership.”
Mr. Trump signed the landmark bill on July 4, 2025, after an intense legislative battle on Capitol Hill.
The massive law extended tax cuts from a 2017 GOP overhaul and permanently increased the standard deduction for filers.
It included tax breaks on tipped income and overtime pay and, after intense lobbying from Republicans in blue-leaning states, expanded the amount of state and local taxes that filers deduct on federal returns.
Tax-advantaged savings vehicles for American children, known as “Trump Accounts,” launched on Saturday.
The White House said the legislation has been a “game-changer” for tens of millions of Americans.
“These are immense victories fortifying the economic strength of Americans and America in both the short and long-term, and the administration will continue to rightfully tout this achievement in the months and years ahead,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
The all-out sales pitch is an attempt to turn around public perceptions of the OBBB that have skewed negatively since the start.
Democrats, hoping for major midterm victories this November, pilloried the bill as a deficit-bloating measure that would favor wealthier tax filers and usher in devastating cuts to Medicaid, the federal-state insurance program for the poor.
Public negativity has lingered, with 59% of Americans telling Gallup in March their tax burden remains too high while 37% said it seemed about right.
A Fox News poll from April, near the IRS filing deadline, found 70% of Americans think their taxes are too high.
Darrell West, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said the OBBB does not appear to have generated tangible political gains for Republicans.
“It was contentious legislation, and the GOP didn’t do a very good job messaging its benefits,” he said. “Right now, the conversation is dominated by Iran and affordability concerns. There is little discussion about tax cuts or how Republicans have reduced the cost of living. That creates a treacherous environment for the GOP in November.”
Republicans are rebranding their landmark bill in their bid for a political breakthrough, dubbing it the Working Families Tax Cut instead of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
For instance, the Small Business Administration uses both names on one of its web pages.
There have been signs of progress.
A Bipartisan Policy Center survey found persons with tip income tended to file their taxes earlier than those without, signaling an eagerness to tap into new benefits, and a majority of filers – 56% – had at least some awareness of the law’s tax relief.
According to a Senate GOP fact sheet, tens of millions of people saw relief on their tax returns this year:
• Over 29 million deducted overtime pay
• More than 7.5 million people claimed no-tax-on-tips relief
• 127 million filers claimed the permanently doubled standard deduction
• Over 35 million older Americans took advantage of an “enhanced senior deduction”
• Nearly 40 million families claimed an enhanced child tax credit
Republicans say Democrats are trash-talking their bill because they do not understand its upsides or do not want to give the GOP credit.
“They sneer at what real relief means to real people,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne, Texas Republican, said at a recent GOP press conference.
Senate Republicans, clinging to a 53-to-47 majority, are promoting the OBBB far and wide, including restaurant stops to highlight tax breaks on tips and hospital visits to highlight a Rural Healthcare Transformation Fund.
“From day one, Senate Republicans have committed our majority to providing Americans with safer streets, more money in their pockets, and new opportunities to get ahead,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said. “There’s no better example of that success than the historic Working Families Tax Cuts bill, which included more than 100 individual bills aimed at making Americans’ lives safer and more secure.”
Democrats are counterprogramming with a drumbeat of criticism over the bill’s treatment of health and welfare programs, hoping that dissatisfaction with Mr. Trump and the GOP gives them a net gain of three seats and control of the House.
A generic congressional ballot from RealClearPolitics had Democrats leading Republicans by 5 points.
Democrats are zeroing in on a massive decrease in future spending for Medicaid insurance due to new work requirements and other changes to Medicaid’s financing structure in the OBBB.
There is some debate over whether curtailed spending amounts to a “cut,” since spending on the program will continue to rise overall.
“There are no cuts in Medicaid,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers. “I keep saying this. Here’s what the CBO said: In fiscal year 2025, $668 billion. Fiscal year 2036, $981 billion. That’s not a cut. It’s a 47% increase.”
Democrats say the spending will not keep up with the growing population and amounts to a drastic blow to the program.
Also, nearly 3 million fewer people are obtaining health coverage through Obamacare after the OBBB terminated super-sized subsidies ushered in by President Joseph R. Biden.
Enrollment fell from a high of 22.1 million in 2025 to 19.2 million people in February of this year, according to KFF.
“Trump promised beautiful. A year later, fewer people are insured, premiums are skyrocketing, and deductibles are higher than ever before,” Rep. Frank Pallone, New Jersey Democrat, said Thursday. “It’s ugly and Republicans know it.”
Republicans say the public will gradually see the OBBB’s upside through provisions such as the Trump accounts, which started accepting deposits on Saturday. Individuals can contribute up to $5,000 per year per child.
Children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2025, are eligible for $1,000 in seed money from the U.S. government.
Mr. Trump on Wednesday touted a $250 million investment in the accounts by tech company Micron.
“This is exactly what the fabulously successful TRUMP ACCOUNTS were created to do — Give every American Child a headstart, and a real chance to succeed,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “My Policies are WORKING, and working ‘BIG.’”
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